Is there anyone who thinks the McLaren P1 would be better with a rotary engine? We reckon “Mad Mike” Whiddett and the crew at Lanzante think so. They make a strong argument for it with the car you see here. It’s appropriately named MadMac, and it has 1,000 screaming horsepower under the engine cover.
Before you jump into the comments about the heresy of rotary-swapping a P1, this isn’t really a P1. UK-based firm Lanzante fabricated custom body panels for a McLaren carbon fiber chassis. The core is a McLaren 650S GT3 tub. Body panels draw inspiration from the P1 GTR with custom touches courtesy of Lanzante, which already has considerable P1 experience. Rocket Bunny, famous for its widebody kits, also contributed to the final design. The result is an aggressive-looking P1 race car, albeit one that slides across the tarmac instead of sticking to it.
A twin-turbo McLaren V-8 is certainly capable of excessive horsepower, but Mad Mike is known for his love of rotaries. The crew at MadLab was called upon to build something extreme, so they created a three-rotor 20B billet engine and bolted a big turbocharger to it. The flame-spitting 2.0-liter mill is managed by a Haltech ECU that sends 1,000 hp to the rear wheels through a six-speed sequential gearbox.
The project went from design to debut at Goodwood in just 100 days. Given Whiddett’s previous appearances at the famous hillclimb, seeing MadMac in action should be quite the spectacle.
“It is fair to say that MadMac is the biggest challenge I have set myself in terms of builds, and it has been a huge effort by the whole team to get a project of this magnitude complete in just 100 days,” explained Whiddett. “The reveal of any project is always the most rewarding part, as it is an opportunity to step away from the overall build, and we get to see what fans and the wider world think of our efforts. Goodwood is the number 1 event for me of the year, and we have revealed some of our best builds there over the years, but this one is extra special.”
The 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed runs from July 11-14. Don’t miss it.